Back at it

Coach Eddie Jordan gave his players Sunday off after they played three games in four nights but the team is back on the court today for a practice at the VC. They'll have three days to get some things fixed before playing Thursday night at New Jersey, where the Wiz have only one win in the last 13 visits.

After that, things won't get easier because Denver is in here Friday night and then the Wiz play at Atlanta against a pretty decent looking Hawks squad on Sunday (the Hawks pushed Detroit to the brink last night but old friend Jarvis Hayes hit a couple of big baskets down the stretch and the Pistons emerged).

The key will be creating some kind of offensive flow. It's hard to do that when two of your best players (Arenas and Jamison) are missing shots and a third (Butler) is turning the ball over at a high rate. The good news is that Brendan Haywood is playing some of the most inspired ball of his career. I'll check back later with an update. I'lll be particularly curious to see how Gilbert is feeling on that knee. After Saturday's game he told me that it felt "tight" and said he would consider having it drained again if it continued to feel that way.

No disrespet to you, but that line-up is awful. Who will handle the ball? You have to have more people to handle the ball than Gilbert and his bum knee. Butler is a walking turnover, you can't ask him to handle the rock, period.

Also, what has been the MAJOR reason the Wizards defense is so bad? Dribble penetration, not interior defense. Butler is not nearly quick enough to stick with a 2 and stop him from getting to the cup. How well did Butler do in stoping Hedo from getting to the basket at will? He's almost as bad at defense as Gilbert. That line up will get destroyed, no matter how much length is in the middle.

Ivan's blogging from the future! Whats it like? Are we in hovercrafts yet?
I guess the WaPo folks forgot about daylight savings...

The problem with benching deshawn is he can't produce his own shot, which he would have to do on the second unit. he thrived last year by getting open jumpers when defenses would collapse on Gilbert.
The problem now is with the big three. When they start clicking, the rest of the team will too.

And Brendan is looking like a different player. And its not just the increased minutes and lack of Etan. His footwork is better, his vertical is higher, he seems in better shape, he almost seemed explosive at times, which is a word I never would have used to describe him in the past. Hope he keeps it up.

Hey everybody, look at what Gil has to say about Kobe wanting a trade. It was in the LA Times.

Arenas, who grew up in Los Angeles, compared Bryant unfavorably to Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.

"I've never seen Jordan act like that," Arenas told Sports Illustrated. "I didn't even see A.I., when he was going through them bad days, you know? They were always talking about trading him, and he was like, 'If they trade me, they trade me; if they don't, they don't . . . but this is my city.' And I don't understand how Kobe doesn't feel that about L.A. -- it's his city."

Arenas thinks Bryant should stay in Los Angeles and wait for the team to get better around him.

"With the Lakers, he's always going to have the opportunity to attract players," Arenas said. "A free agent is willing to go to a Laker uniform. Everybody wants to go to L.A. . . . Jason Kidd is up next season, right? He's a free agent [in 2009]. Why don't you wait? Maybe he'll just come over there. You never know."

Maybe Eddie Jordan will have had some time off also to think about some decisions. Maybe he will go big sometime and not always play small ball. Maybe he will allow Dr. Dray to play a little bit. Maybe......but prolly not

I like this lineup,
Gilbert
Caron
Dray
Antawn
Brendan

you move caron to the two and he can play D just as good as Deshawn. You do not want to move Antawn to the 3 because he cant defend there so you put AB there. This gives us a much better look with height and a chance to stop defenders from coming into the lane. All without really sacrificing offense.

Well, the wizards are not alone in the category of "unexpected 0-3 starts in the NBA East"... plenty of good company in Chicago and Miami... but that is small consolation given how much was (and remains) expected.

I don't think signing JCN was the answer but the Wizards need someone off the bench with firepower, which would NOT be Roger Mason. The only answer currently wearing Wizard colors is the rookie, Nick Young. When I saw some NBA video today of the old Wizard killer Troy Hudson burying a clutch three to help GS knock off the Lakers, I remember that he was available cheap this summer and ask "Why Not in DC?"

Speaking of old friends who might do damage to the Wiz - Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton along with Jarvis everyone knows with Detroit; Michael Ruffin, Awvee Storey and Bobby Simmons with the Bucks; Juwan Howard back with the Mavs.

No disrespet to you, but that line-up is awful. Who will handle the ball? You have to have more people to handle the ball than Gilbert and his bum knee. Butler is a walking turnover, you can't ask him to handle the rock, period.

Also, what has been the MAJOR reason the Wizards defense is so bad? Dribble penetration, not interior defense. Butler is not nearly quick enough to stick with a 2 and stop him from getting to the cup. How well did Butler do in stoping Hedo from getting to the basket at will? He's almost as bad at defense as Gilbert. That line up will get destroyed, no matter how much length is in the middle."

posted by.......?
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you say we need more ball handlers in our lineup which is not true. In our Princeton offense the 1-4 end up playin about the same positions with all the screens and backdoor cuts. Yea Gil brings the ball up but then he passes and cuts. We would not miss Deshawns ballhandling there at all. You say we are getting beat on dribble penetration? Where do you think they are penetrating to? The middle....for layups. The reason they are doing that is because when Songaila and Jamsion are 4,5 no one is scared of driving. Having Blatche and Haywood is alot intimidating when people are thinking of driving to the hole. I am just suggesting this lineup. Deshawns defense has been suspect up to this point anyways. It gives us more length and better protection of the basket on defense. We sure will not be missing any of Deshawns offense, cept maybe an occasional open three pointer.

I'm so shocked that Gilbert is having problems with his knee. I would have thought that EJ playing Gilbert the first 20 minutes of the second half of the blowout against the Celtics in the first game of back-to-back games would have been the best thing for Gilbert's knee.

Brendan Heywood and explosive in the same sentence??? Wowza! That's progress. He has looked good. Even heard a "get that s_ it out of here" yell on a block against Boston. I saw games 2 & 3. The big 3 look out of sync and in a big hurry. We could use a 3 point specialist and a stopper. Arenas & Jamison are both off. Butler's been turnover prone. Definitely need a spark. Prepare to be fast breaked & pick and rolled to death in Jersey. Hard fouls will be in order on softies Jefferson & Carter. Hope Kidd's J is off. Make him beat us.

i think this is the best lineup...i think caron and dmac become interchangeable at the two and three spots...sure dmac is a rook...but that doesnt mean he cant make an impact he provides energy hustle d passing rebounding....ab at the four is ok because he can check fours...he's not a center or a three...hes a four...jamison moves to the bench and provides a spark off the bench

I think it is funny how alot of us have thrown out suggestions of lineups with Blatche in it while EJ is continuing to give him 6 and 7 minnutes a game.....maybe Ivan can talk to Eddie about Andray's lack of minutes.

The difficulty with pulling Antawn out of the starting lineup is that we need his 3-point shooting to pull the opposing power forward away from the basket to create space for everyone else to operate.

Maybe Pech can develop into a 3-pt threat as a spot-up shooter to take Antawn's place in the starting lineup. Just stay at a spot behind the arc and catch-and-shoot. If he pans out, we could move Antawn to the second unit where he'd be unstoppable.

"The difficulty with pulling Antawn out of the starting lineup is that we need his 3-point shooting to pull the opposing power forward away from the basket to create space for everyone else to operate.

Maybe Pech can develop into a 3-pt threat as a spot-up shooter to take Antawn's place in the starting lineup. Just stay at a spot behind the arc and catch-and-shoot. If he pans out, we could move Antawn to the second unit where he'd be unstoppable.

Posted by: TC | November 5, 2007 03:23 PM "

So what good is DS to Les BouleS if we are now hoping that Opec turns into a 3 point threat?

The diagnosis of what is ailing the wizards is not that they aren't hitting shots, it is that they are taking horrible shots. And the reason why they are taking terrible shots is b/c the little 3 are playing selfishly. Each one takes turns playing one-on-one basketball. It's as if each believes that they must take over the game instead of trusting and relying upon each other.

If I recall, and correct me if I'm wrong, the Wiz looked their best against the magic when Gil and Antwan were sitting during the 4th quarter. Mason, Blatche, Caron, Daniels and Haywood were in the game. Those five played intense, in your face D, and moved the ball on offense. The got open looks and made them.

So, my point is this, I disagree with Ivan. The problem is not the woeful shooting percentage, that is the manifestation of the disease of selfish basketball. The lack of ball movement on offense that is not producing easy looks for the little 3.

I will keep watching the NFL until this "team?" decides to play ball.
Otherwise - its not worth the time or effort.

Its exceptionally clear to me perhaps not to anyone else but maybe DC dude but Gil isn't about the Wizards as a team. He is all about Gil - how many interviews, appearances, endorsements..anywhere he can plaster his face does he need? I swear Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's faces aren't in as many places as Wiz Arenas. Thats pretty bad - especially when your team is losing mad crazy. All you do is run your mouth like "you're suddenly an expert?" or "You've won something?" At least Kobe's got "RINGS" and took his little rookie team to the playoffs..Arenas as choked everytime..even in the All Star game.
It was "show off, look at me" and he didn't produce a thing. All his "super shots" are to draw attention. to him -not substance or cohesion to his team - just himself. The Wiz need a "team"

Let me chime in on the lineup discussion. I am for moving jamison to the bench for this simple reason: He is too great a defensive liability, particularly given the mediocrity of GA and CB on the defensive end. Plus, when he comes off the the bench he will automatically be the number 1 option on offense. We all saw what he did against the Cavs, so we know he can score.

AB should start in Jamison's place b/c he'll match up better with the opposing 4. Also, he'll be able to use his size to intimidate penetrating guards.

I agree with MEG that the Wizards have been taking horrible shots. Several times during the Orlando game they did a much better job working the offense and getting better shots, but when they reverted to one-on-one basketball, there is no criticism or punishment coming from EJ.

I also agree that having Jamison coming off the bench and playing his usual 35 minutes would be great, but I think you need to wait until someone -- either Songalia or Blatche -- play well enough to justify starting one of them ahead of Jamison. Not that they need to be playing better than Jamison, but that they need to be playing so well and especially defending so well that the move seems warranted rather than a "what the heck, let's try this" move.

Sean i second that about DSong and AB need to show and prove first. But while we're on the topic, AJ ain't going to the bench. We all know this, so Its really no point beatin it to death like we have been (I'm a longtime lurker, in case you're wondering)...

I agree EJ needs to whip up a better rotation pronto... I mean what's the point in complimenting the bench that EG assembled, AND THEN LEAVING THE BENCH ON THE BENCH?????

A dysfunctional team with a selfish star leading a bunch of castoffs and rookies to wins in two out of their first three games. Oh wait, that's not the Wizards--that's the Lakers. I guess the difference between the two teams must be the coach.

I'll repeat that for the viewing-challenged: the difference must be the coach.

The starting lineup is not about to change right now. So why don't we ask for something that's more likely to happen: EJ should let the starters know that he's going to start pulling people sooner if they're putting up bricks or not sticking with the offense. And this includes the Big 3. The days of one set of rules for the Big 3 and another for the rest of the team should be over.

EJ should have already taken this approach, but the weak start should give him the perfect opening to do so now.

Thank you Eddie for 3 consecutive playoff berths, but your services are no longer needed. You continually play your starters too many minutes. Your rotation/use is unexplainable at best. You have a potential double/double in Mr. Blatche who's getting about 8 minutes a game. You have a hustling, defensive gem, SF in DMAC who rarely sees action and a potential scoring machine in Nick Young whom you refuse to allow to grow, make mistakes and grow. Your style is hindering this ballclub. With the blowout in Boston you still refused to play the young guys.c Brendan has proven given minutes his effectiveness on the floor, which you refused to do last year, instead you instituted a Brendan against Etan battle last year, when clearly it was proven that Etan is a great energy and better suited for coming off the bench. Thank you, but no thank you. Enough is enough!!!!!!!

Fortunately or unfortunately, it will be a while before EJ makes a major change to the starting lineup. Things would have to get alot worse I think before he would change it and he would still probably start the big three.

They started off worse last year (4-9) and eventually got out of it pretty nicely. Of course, last year is not this year.

November is a pretty tough month for them schedule wise. They will play four more games on the road than at home and have a challenging road trip road trip at the end of it (Mem, Dal, San, and Phi).

I hope they don't dig too big a hole before getting things right.

Also, I don't understand why AB is not getting more minutes. Is he not playing well in practice? He seemed to fall off some in the preseason towards the end. Maybe Ivan could give us some information on AB not playing much.

Wow. People saying that Caron and D-Mac are interchangeable? I **LOVE** the potential of D-Mac, but Caron was an all-star last season. Let's please have bit of patience here.

I completely agree, however with criticisms of EJ's playing rotation (or lack thereof). I'm not so convinced that AB is the savior (yet), but I continue to be frustrated by the big 3 playing 40-ish minutes a game. Our supporting cast is supposed to be stronger than Boston's but I couldn't help notice that Rivers already has established that Garnett and Ray Allen will rest and play reasonable numbers of minutes.

I am an Eddie Jordan fan, but it drove me NUTS last y ear when the season was winding down that AB didn't get more minutes. But this preseason, I thought for SURE he would---he was one of the team's better players in the preseason. But no, we are back to the starters playing ridiculous, wear-their-bodies-down-by-the-end-of-the-year minutes. We are back to don't-give-the-bench-enough-minutes-to-get-them-in-the-flow...

I'm all for using the threat of reduced playing time as a carrot/stick incentive. The problem in this case is that there's not much of a stick. Threatening to yank guys is fine if you've got other guys in waiting who might be just as or more capable of producing. But right now, the Wizards don't. This team rises and falls on its ability to score, and no one Jordan can bring in off the bench is going to be more productive offensively than the Big 3. not Blatche, not Songaila, not Daniels (although all three should get regular PT).

Look, right now Jamison and Arenas are in shooting slumps (Caron seems to have broken his). That problem won't correct itself by benching them. Like it or not, the only way for a shooter to emerge from a slump is to shoot his way out of it.

As for teams having different rules for stars versus non-stars ... welcome to the world of pro sports.

I also liked seeing Brendan giving Gilbert a little talking to in the Orlando game after Gil lost his man and Brendan rotated over and had to give up a foul. I sure do hope he keeps it up.

For all you guys trashing Gilbert, the man is obviously having a problem with his knee. Yeah he has his weaknesses, but he's also one of the most explosive scorers in this league. There's a lot to be said for that. Yeah he's needy and he says and does some flaky stuff -- as do plenty of other players in this league (Kobe, JKidd, Sheed, Shaq, Vinsanity, and the list could go on). And who among us didn't say and do stupid sh*t when we were 25? But he's also generous and does some great stuff on the court and off.

Before he came here the Wiz hadn't seen a playoff series in how many years? And y'all are ready to throw him under the bus?
Cold town, D.C.

Arenas needs to learn to have more of a balance between scoring and assisting others. If the defenses are focusing on him, then this is an opprotunity for him to set up his teammates, if he does not have a good shot. He needs to play more efficiently.

BTW, I am all for donating money for education. But this giving money based on how much Gilbert scores in not totally the way to do it.

Each assist Arenas makes should also account for two points in the point total for money towards schools. He is their starting point guard. What are we promoting Arenas constant one on one baskeball. Then, he should increase his shooting percentage first.

Wow Everybody ... read this link about Arenas. I gave you a link earlier, about this story, but it was on an excerpt of an interview with Gil. This is the real story, and he talks about being a shot first guard, and how he has made everyone around him better. Good Stuff:

2cents4wiz, good point. I did forget that. However, I thought he was fine the last couple of weeks of the regular season...

Last year we could write it off to EJ having some veterans to insert as needed (instead of the young guys). I assumed that having more youth would equate to actually giving them time this season. And regardless of whether that was true or not, we can't possibly continue to play our big 3 a ridiculous amount of minutes---especially if Gil's knee is acting up as it seems to be...

Prazak--cold town? I've read every single one of Gilbert Arenas' interviews and most of his blog entries. Great stuff--he's funny, insightful, and smart. But he clearly states--as he did in his 'the Lakers would be crazy to trade for me cuz I'm not signed' riff--over and over that he's planning to sell himself to the highest bidder next season. Obviously, the rate things are going with his knee and his shooting, it might not break the bank for the Wizards to match that. But that doesn't mean he won't pull a Larry Hughes and leave anyway. Cold? Who went all cold first? If this were a marriage us Wizards fans would be sleeping on the couch and hoping we get lucky next year.

Why is Gilby busy writing on blogs and busy talking about Kobe when he's got his own bidness to take care of? Gilby should lock himself in VC and keep shooting until he gets his shot back. The gym rat was busy breaking ankles of 40 year old dudes at Barry Farms all summer on 9 ft rims, and also busy cheating on his Halo video game.

My main man B-Hay dominating. More proof that has has been astonishingly underplayed by Eddie Jordan every year he's been here. I assume Ray and The Truth are going to be coming back onto this board soon and apologizing for accusing people who wanted Kobe of being "Laker fans" and "Arenas-haters"? Can we say, I told ya so?

1 for 17 from 3. Nice work Arenas. Keep firing Gilbert, it's worked great thus far!

My main man B-Hay dominating. More proof that has has been astonishingly underplayed by Eddie Jordan every year he's been here. I assume Ray and The Truth are going to be coming back onto this board soon and apologizing for accusing people who wanted Kobe of being "Laker fans" and "Arenas-haters"? Can we say, I told ya so?

1 for 17 from 3. Nice work Arenas. Keep firing Gilbert, it's worked great thus far!

My main man B-Hay dominating. More proof that has has been astonishingly underplayed by Eddie Jordan every year he's been here. I assume Ray and The Truth are going to be coming back onto this board soon and apologizing for accusing people who wanted Kobe of being "Laker fans" and "Arenas-haters"? Can we say, I told ya so?

1 for 17 from 3. Nice work Arenas. Keep firing Gilbert, it's worked great thus far!

My main man B-Hay dominating. More proof that has has been astonishingly underplayed by Eddie Jordan every year he's been here. I assume Ray and The Truth are going to be coming back onto this board soon and apologizing for accusing people who wanted Kobe of being "Laker fans" and "Arenas-haters"? Can we say, I told ya so?

1 for 17 from 3. Nice work Arenas. Keep firing Gilbert, it's worked great thus far!

My main man B-Hay dominating. More proof that has has been astonishingly underplayed by Eddie Jordan every year he's been here. I assume Ray and The Truth are going to be coming back onto this board soon and apologizing for accusing people who wanted Kobe of being "Laker fans" and "Arenas-haters"? Can we say, I told ya so?

1 for 17 from 3. Nice work Arenas. Keep firing Gilbert, it's worked great thus far!

Our second unit, however, needs work. There's too big of a drop-off when we rest the starters. We might be better off by playing our top unit for fewer minutes together if it allows us to strengthen the second unit.

We also need a good defensive unit. A unit that keeps things level. Slows things down, kills the clock, and takes the random factor out of the equation. The basketball equivalent of football's prevent defense. When we build up a big lead, this lineup can help us run out the clock.

Conversely, we also need a completely helter-skelter "microwave" unit to gamble and try to get us back into an all-but-lost game. We're just as likely to end up losing by 40 as get back into the game, but what the hell.

Group 1 (Starters): Gil, DeShawn, Caron, Antawn, Brendan (12 minutes, starts the game and finishes it out if its close)

DMac and Caron are interchangeable in the fact that they both look like rookies. Butler currently leads the league in turnovers per game.

Also, what is everyone seeing in DMAC? What semblance of an offensive game has he displayed? He is exactly the same player that Ruffin was, just younger. I know he hustles and has a lot of energy, but seriously, has he ever shown any of us that he has an offensive game. In the preseason he'd be out there for what 30 minutes and score what 3, 5 points!? Legitimate players cannot be completely one demensional.

Basically what I'm saying is that everyones posts makes it seem like DMac is a bona fide superstar poised to take the Wizards to the promised land, well, he hasn't shown anything, and until he does he is not a reasonable option in any line up that EJ uses, period.

Caron can't guard 3's much less 2's. We should all forget about moving him anywhere or any other major lineup change. Those guys were all stars at those positions and we won't see position changes with them. This is the team we're stuck with. Caron and AJ are undersized and will be abused at their positions. Unfortunately, those are the only positions that they can play and are effective offensively. So what's the solution? Play to their strengths. Their strength is scoring so the only alternative is to make them outscore their
matchup.
I like AB a lot and also McGuire but as noted before the season, McGuire is below average with man defense at this point, He's a great help and off the ball defender but his man blows by him. AB is inconsistent and looks lost at times. He needs the ball in his hands and in the starting lineup, he'd be the 4th option at best. It'd be a waste of talent. he should come in with the first group of subs and the ball should go through him at least once per possession.

Caron can't guard 3's much less 2's. We should all forget about moving him anywhere or any other major lineup change. Those guys were all stars at those positions and we won't see position changes with them. This is the team we're stuck with. Caron and AJ are undersized and will be abused at their positions. Unfortunately, those are the only positions that they can play and are effective offensively. So what's the solution? Play to their strengths. Their strength is scoring so the only alternative is to make them outscore their
matchup.
I like AB a lot and also McGuire but as noted before the season, McGuire is below average with man defense at this point, He's a great help and off the ball defender but his man blows by him. AB is inconsistent and looks lost at times. He needs the ball in his hands and in the starting lineup, he'd be the 4th option at best. It'd be a waste of talent. he should come in with the first group of subs and the ball should go through him at least once per possession.

This from an article in the other paper ...
"despite talk about refocusing on an offense even Eddie Jordan has admitted has slipped in part because of an emphasis placed on defense in the preseason -- don't expect the Wizards to change much.
"We have made a commitment to defend," said Jordan, whose team has shot just 35.4 percent from the field. "We'll continue to work on our offense, but we're going to hang our hat on our defense. That's what we're going to continue to do."

We'll see. I'm skeptical but at least he's made a commitment to something.

KTV, If Arenas is going to sell himself to the highest bidder, well.. that would be us.

Rook covered that very well on here a few weeks ago, and it's long and takes alot of time. But due to the collective bargaining agreement we've got a huge edge when it comes to what we can offer.

If Gil gets traded that team that trades for him gains the competitive edge in resigning him. So if he's healthy he's got trade value right up until he would sign with another team. Sign and trades are done all the time. The chances of us getting completely jilted are really low.

The point is Wizards fans really should see his opting out as a chance "to get off the couch" and get to see if resigning Gil is best for the team, or maybe there's a better way to spend 100+ million dollars.

If this team is dysfunctional then Grunfeld has manuvered them into having two out of the big three being FA's next summer. So he's got 29m to spend, and if these guys collapse, a lottery pick to go with it.

About time for Eddie to realize it's not how you start a season but where you finish. Playing your leading scorer 20 minutes in the second half of a blow out when you've got a game the next night that you have to win isn't real smart.

Gil and Eddie have got to learn to pace it with that knee until it's fully recovered. If they do he's still going to have a very good season. If they don't they'll deal with gimpy nights all year.

I'd agree with the general sentiment that for this group to be effective Jordan's going to have to use the bench more and the big three are going to have to learn to pick their spots a little better.

Guys can't get out of shooting slumps from a bench, but sometimes better shot selection helps.

The interesting thing from watching some other teams early season games have been the scoring in some of them. It's like a 60's flashback, teams are running and gunning again. Looks like much of the rest of the league is thinking like Mark.

Prazak, DC is a rough Sports town, always has been. There sure aren't many people around here that cheer for their team through thick and thin like Cubs fans.
But as tough as it is, there's no place else like this site.

GM, I agree with your entire post. This is a great blog, lots of good observations. Even DCMan has been leading with good opinions lately instead of dissing the other people on the board. Maybe other people should stop taking such nasty potshots at him anonymously.

Caron is not a bad defensive player at the 3, and he is an all-star player. He certainly is not interchangeable with DMac, who is a rookie and who, as much as he has great potential as a defender, has already been schooled a couple times on the floor by veteran moves (as has Nick Young). And he is not the scoring machine Caron is.

Eddie acknowledged part of the problem in today's WaPo when he noted the lack of crisp ball movement, sharp cutting, and too may quick shots. That's obviously directed at the Big 3. What he didn't acknowledge, but what we all know is the other part of the problem, is his poor substitution: sticking too long with the big three, not giving enough time to AB, and playing small ball with AJ and Song at the 4 and 5.

New Jersey is struggling themselves. Could be a really hard-fought, well-played game between two teams desperate to establish themselves, or it could be two sloppy underperforming teams flopping around like fish out of water.

The diagnosis of what is ailing the wizards is not that they aren't hitting shots, it is that they are taking horrible shots. And the reason why they are taking terrible shots is b/c the little 3 are playing selfishly. Each one takes turns playing one-on-one basketball. It's as if each believes that they must take over the game instead of trusting and relying upon each other.

If I recall, and correct me if I'm wrong, the Wiz looked their best against the magic when Gil and Antwan were sitting during the 4th quarter. Mason, Blatche, Caron, Daniels and Haywood were in the game. Those five played intense, in your face D, and moved the ball on offense. The got open looks and made them.

So, my point is this, I disagree with Ivan. The problem is not the woeful shooting percentage, that is the manifestation of the disease of selfish basketball. The lack of ball movement on offense that is not producing easy looks for the little 3.

Posted by: M.E.G. | November 5, 2007 03:38 PM

I totally agree!!!!! and couldn't have said any better. That's why Eddie was preaching PATIENCE on Saturday.

Um yeah I know the Wizards can match any offer--that's why I mentioned Larry Hughes. We matched his offer--and he walked anyway. Arenas is already establishing performance benchmarks for his return in the press, which means that it won't necessarily be about the money.

"Um yeah I know the Wizards can match any offer--that's why I mentioned Larry Hughes. We matched his offer--and he walked anyway. Arenas is already establishing performance benchmarks for his return in the press, which means that it won't necessarily be about the money.

Quibbles. Technically, you're both right--but Hughes himself has said that he wouldn't have stayed regardless. He wanted out, according to Arenas because he was jealous and wanted to handle the ball more. And because he didn't like Jordan's offense...

And as for that contract that's choking the Cavs--agreed. But Arenas will be demanding a much chokier one, right? We may look back and say the couch was pretty comfortable.

"Larry Hughes contract, which we never matched is choking the Cavaliers and their ability to make any moves.

Larry should have realized how well him and Arenas were matched to play together since they were both combo type guards who's talents meshed.

Larry would have been alot happier if he'd have stayed a Wizard. But there's no use in rehashing history.

Posted by: GM | November 6, 2007 03:38 PM "

GM, unfortunately hindsight is 20/20. If EG kept his promise and did everything he could to keep LH, then LH would still be here. Instead, Abe tried to pull a Juwan again, but the Cleveland contract was legit, so Stern couldn't give him another mulligan.

As many have said here, if LH hadn't left, then Caron probably wouldn't be here. The most important and funniest thing is, regardless of how effective or ineffective LH has been with Cleveland, Cleveland has had way more success in the playoffs. What has Gilby done in the playoffs since LH left? Gilby brags that he's averaging 30 pts/game, with 2 other sidekicks averaging above 19, but how has that translated to playoff success?

It hasn't.

Mark my words, if Gilby gets resigned for a max contract, that also will choke this franchise, especially with the young talent on this team.